Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia 51 (3) 2023   doi:10.17746/1563-0110.2023.51.3.009-016

Annotation:  A.P. Derevianko’s Multivolume Three Global Human Migrations in Eurasia and Its Place in Paleolithic Core-Shaped Tools from the Early Pleistocene Deposits at Bairaki, Moldova Early-Middle Acheulean Occupation of the Northern Transcaucasian Highland Nikolaevo-Otradnoye II—A New Early and Middle Paleolithic Site in the Northeastern Azov Region On the Attribution of Lithic Industry from the Early Paleolithic Site of Bogatyri/Sinyaya Balka, the Gazma Cave—A Final Middle Paleolithic Site in Azerbaijan: Paleogeography, Chronology, Archaeology Variability in the Sibiryachikha Assemblages of the Altai Mountains (Based on Materials from Okladni Spatial Structures of the Initial/Early Upper Paleolithic at Tolbor-21, Northern Mongolia A Complex of Stratifi ed Upper Paleolithic Sites in the Foothills of the Northern Tien Shan: General Late Pleistocene Environments of East Kazakhstan (Based on Ushbulak Site Materials) A New Type of IUP Settlement in the Selenga River Basin, Northern Mongolia: The Kharganyn Gol-13 Sho Morpho-Stratigraphy, Sedimentology, and Radiocarbon Chronology of Suyanggae Sites, Focusing on Loc. Khengerekte-Sukhotino—An Upper Paleolithic Culture in Transbaikalia Late Pleistocene to Early Holocene Paleoclimatic Boundaries and Human Settlement of the East Siberia Late Upper Paleolithic of the South Minusinsk Basin and its Mountain Surroundings: Research Results Ɖiem Cave: A Stratified Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene Site in Northern Vietnam A Case of Systemic Connective Tissue Disorder in a Pazyryk Male from the Altai Mountains   

Core-Shaped Tools from the Early Pleistocene Deposits at Bairaki,
Moldova

N.K. Anisyutkin

Institute for the History of Material Culture, Russian Academy of Sciences, Dvortsovaya nab. 18, St. Petersburg, 191186, Russia

This article deals with a series of core-shaped tools from Early Pleistocene deposits (layers 5 and 6) of the stratified site of Bairaki, located on high above-floodplain terrace VII of the Dniester, in the outskirts of Dubasari, Moldova. The site was discovered in 2010 by the joint Russian-Moldovan archaeological expedition and excavated in 20112014. The interdisciplinary studies revealed six layers with Early Paleolithic artifacts. Two lowest layers (5 and 6) are associated with the channel alluvium of terrace VII. The paleomagnetic studies have shown that these deposits correspond to the Jaramillo episode of the Matuyama epoch. The lithic industry of layers 5 and 6 are comparable to the Late Oldowan. Most artifacts are made of poor quality flint; there are also pebble tools made of non-silicic rocks. Most lithics are small. A distinct series of core-shaped end-scrapers and side-scrapers made on residual cores (9 spec.), fragments (1 spec.), and flakes (5 spec.) is identified. All these tools are robust and had been processed in a similar way. They are made of pebbles no larger than 6 cm. The steep working edges of all implements in this series are heavily retouched. Similar items have been recorded from the Early Paleolithic materials of the region. Such tools were widespread in the Early Paleolithic of Africa and Eurasia. The earliest pieces were found in the Bed I assemblage of the Olduvai Gorge.

Keywords: Southwestern part of Eastern Europe, Moldova, Transnistria, Bairaki site, Early Paleolithic, coreshaped tools